Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce

Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce is a super easy and quick idea for any Holiday dinner. It just takes 15 minutes, from start to finish. You can’t beat that!

This post for Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper and Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce is sponsored by Mahon-Menorca Cheese. Thank you for supporting a brand who helps keep Innocent Delight alive. #MahonCheese

It seems that when it comes to Holidays the natural inclination is to put a fancy type of meat on the table like: leg of lamb, rack of lamb chops, glazed ham or prime rib. Not to disparage these options, but what if you’re cooking for a smaller crowd? In that case, I say go get yourself the best cut of steak out there and make this Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper & Mahon Menorca Cheese Sauce. In fact, even if you’re cooking for a larger crowd you could grab a big piece of meat, like prime rib, and use my Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce to serve it with. It’s outstanding!

I chose Ribeye for this recipe, in that we’re just doing a quiet Holiday at home this year, and therefore I don’t have a ton of ravenous appetites to feed. This cut of meat is fattier then other cuts, making it also very flavorful.

Our two little boys are going to be with us, but if you follow my blog you already know that one is a picky eater, and will not touch a steak, and the other just isn’t big enough yet to eat a steak. But my husband, on the other hand, is a HUGE steak lover. If he could, I’d imagine that he’d devour it all the time. But he does watch his diet, so even if he wanted it all the time he does moderate.

How to Pan-Seared Ribeye

I think that the best way to make a steak is to pan-seared it on a cast iron pan as this provides stable heat, and then finish it off in the oven with, an indirect heat.

My husband likes it more on the rare to medium-rare side. So for a 1 lbs steak, I seared it for 2 minutes on each side to achieve a beautiful crust, and then transferred it into preheated to 415F oven for 4 minutes. If you desire it to be more on the medium rare side, then keep it in there for 5 minutes. For a medium cook you should keep it in the oven for 6 minutes. But always keep in mind that a steak needs to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting it to keep all the juices inside. And while its resting it actually continues to cook. When removing from the oven the internal steak temperature should be:

130 to 135F for Rare,

140F for Medium Rare,

155F for Medium and

165F for Well Done.

We celebrate Christmas, so for us this is a perfect day to indulge and have some amazing, juicy steak for dinner. But while this Pan-Seared Ribeye can be delicious on its own, it’s the sauce which really takes it to the next level. And if you make it while your steak is in the oven and resting afterwards, then the whole process will take no more than 15 minutes! A win win in my book!!!

How to make Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce

Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce is very easy to make and it is based on a simple béchamel sauce. You will need:

Butter;

Flour;

Milk;

Lots of cracked black pepper; &

Raw Mahon-Menorca Cheese.

First you’ll need to melt 1 tablespoon of butter, then add 1 tablespoon of flour, mix it well and gradually add 1 cup of milk. Once the sauce begins to thicken up, then you will add lots of cracked black pepper, turn off the heat and add your 1 cup shredded Raw Mahon-Menorca Cheese. Pour it over steak and voila! You have perfect Holiday dinner.

History of Mahon-Menorca Cheese

Mahon-Menorca Cheese is a product with a Protected Guarantee of Origin (“P.G.O”). It means that this is a product which is very closely related to the geographic area where it is produced – the island of Menorca. The geographic and climatic factors, as well as process of making and aging the cheese (a process that has remained unchanged for a long time in farms and which follows ancient practices used), affect he final balance and flavor of the cheese.

Some of the found pottery remains suggest that the cheese was first produced on the island even as early as 3000 BC. By the 13th century their foreign trade was already important but it wasn’t until the British rule that the name “Mahon” was first coined – which was the name of the product’s shipping port. In 1985 The Guarantee of Origin was conferred, and then in 1997 its protected denomination changed and become “Mahon-Menorca”.

Types of Mahon-Menorca Cheeses

Depending on its degree of maturity, the P.G.O. covers the following types of cheeses:

TENDER. Soft and creamy. Yellowish/white in color, with very little developed crust. Its taste is milky with slight undertones of butter. It’s aged for 21-60 days.

SEMI-CURED. Characteristic and unmistakable. The crust of this cheese is orange, and the cheese is firm yet easy to cut, showing irregular holes throughout. Its milky taste and flavor is more developed, with reminiscences of toasted nuts and dried fruit. It’s aged for 2-5 months.

CURED. A delicacy for cheese connoisseurs. Its texture is firm and hard. It’s less creamy and in advanced stages of maturity – it breaks, flaking upon being cut. It has a very developed flavor and aroma, with a complex and intense taste. This cheese is aged more than 5 months.

There is also a new one, a Traditional Style cheese made with Raw Milk that’s aged for 6 months. It’s also very complex and intense. This is the cheese that I used here for my Cracked Pepper and Mahon-Menorca Cheese sauce because of its incredible flavor.

Where to find Mahon-Menroca Cheese

As mentioned in my previous post, all these cheeses can be easily found throughout the US. Some stores which carry it include:

Fairway,

West Side Market,

Gourmet Garage,

Saveway,

Wholefoods,

Kroger,

Costco,

Central Markets,

Central and

Town & Country Markets.

Alright, I know what we’ll be having for our Christmas dinner. If you are looking for some inspiration, then I hope you will give this recipe for Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper and Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce a try. Happy Holidays!

Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce

Course:
Dinner, Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine:
American, Spanish

Prep Time:5minutes

Cook Time:10minutes

Total Time:15minutes

Servings:2

Calories:1066kcal

Author:Edyta

Pan-Seared Ribeye with Cracked Pepper & Mahon-Menorca Cheese Sauce is a super easy and quick idea for any Holiday dinner. It just takes 15 minutes, from start to finish. You can’t beat that!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recipe Rating

By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. *

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Edyta. I’m a recipe developer, photographer and the writer behind the Innocent Delight food blog of European and Mediterranean healthy and delicious recipes. I consider myself a home chef with cultivated passion for amazing food.Read More…

Don’t Miss These

Footer

Connect

Hi, I'm Edyta. I’m a recipe developer, photographer and the writer behind the Innocent Delight food blog of European and Mediterranean healthy and delicious recipes. I consider myself a home chef with cultivated passion for amazing food.
I’m also a reformed New York State attorney, who practiced for several years only to thereafter decide that this was my real passion. Maybe one day I decided to step back to the courtroom, but in the meantime I’m enjoying spending my time with my kids, my husband, my kitchen and YOU! Read More…